La Junta-based hospice strives to enhance quality of life for those who are dying

BY PABLO CARLOS MORA
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Published: July 29, 2013;Last modified: July 29, 2013 06:28PM

LA JUNTA — It’s all about comfort.

Hospice usually brings to mind images of a desperately ill person strung with IVs clinging to life in a hospital bed, with family members hovering nearby and already grieving.

Not so, says Jill Rogge, director of the Arkansas Valley Hospice.

“Hospice is about comfort, providing comfort not only to the patient but to family members,” Rogge said. “Whatever we can do to help patients, we do.”

A hospice patient — who has been certified by a doctor as having a terminal illness and six months to live — might want to hit the slots in Cripple Creek. Or visit family in Iowa. Maybe attend a Chicago Bears game at Soldier Field.

Rogge said staff tries hard to comply with patient requests.

“If you want to go to Cripple Creek or to a family reunion, you go do that. It’s called quality of life,” she said.

That means long hours for the 25-some hospice staff members.

“We are available 24/7 to our patients, whether in their homes, a hospital or another setting,” she said. “Our staff includes a chaplain, social worker and nurses.

“We provide choice because it is their life, their end of life.”

The hospice, in business for 28 years, primarily serves people in Bent, Crowley and Otero counties.

“We average between 18 and 22 patients a month. We believe we can make a real difference in their quality of life.”

“It is our sense of community,” Paradiso said of the Lower Arkansas Valley.

“I always call it the good life. It’s about values and traditions and what they are used to. It’s almost an ethical thing to take care of one another in all ways.”

Hospice can have a positive effect on patients, Rogge said.

“We’ve had them go to Florida. We’ve had them go to Mexico,” Rogge said. “We say OK, send them with enough medicine and their do-not-resuscitate form and hope that nothing happens when they go, because they are traveling.

“One of our nurses here told a patient, ‘We’re not here to help you die, we are here to help you live,’ ” Paradiso said.

“I tell people the Twinkies and beer story,” Rogge said.

“We had a patient who was a bad, bad diabetic and he had a bad wound; he was literally dying.

“We took him home from the hospital on hospice and had him for several weeks.

“A couple of things he really wanted was a beer and he liked Twinkies. Over family objections, if the man wants Twinkies and beer, let him have it!”

The philosophy of hospice is simple, Rogge said.

“We offer, we encourage, but don’t force. We are not here to fight with patients.

“We do not discourage people from smoking. You know what we tell people who are dying of lung cancer? Do not quit smoking now.

“If that is something you get pleasure from, far be it from us to tell you to quit smoking now. Do what you want to do. Just don’t smoke with your oxygen on.”

Working with patients’ families is often challenging but everyone is sincerely trying to help, she said.

“The most frequent question from family — and they always apologize — is, ‘How much longer do they have?’ We don’t know, we never know,” Rogge said.

“You have to have a terminal diagnosis where the doctors say they don‘t expect him to be here for six months to qualify for hospice care.

“We have to recertify them every six months to qualify them for Medicare or for other types of payment. However, if our patients have no way to pay, we do provide the care they request.”

The Arkansas Valley Hospice also offers palliative and respite care.

“Palliative care is comfort care. They might have a chronic condition but not quite to the terminal stage,” Paradiso said.

“The doctor does not think they have six months to live or less — that’s what qualifies you for hospice care.

“They are welcome to call us 24 hours a day. It is a free program.

“Respite care is given to somebody in the community who has been hurt or is elderly. They have a life-limiting condition. They might need help around the house or to have someone check on them to make sure they have lunch.

“We have Certified Nursing Assistants who help them bathe, for example.”

In her 10 years at Arkansas Valley Hospice, Rogge said she has had contact with well over 1,000 patients.

“I am a registered nurse and also provide care. Mark Fisher, our social worker, has been here for 28 years and has known nearly all of them.”

Rogge said she feels her 40-year career as a nurse and 10 years at Arkansas Valley Hospice have been “really rewarding.”

“People ask, isn’t it really depressing to do that? I thought, ‘Taking care of dying people?’

“It is the best nursing I’ve ever done because not only do you help the patient have a better outcome — maybe take care of a lot of pain and nausea — but we get to help that family that is doing care and help them have a better outcome also.”